Is it any wonder that April is National Poetry Month? What a beautiful time of year to be in Philadelphia—a veritable poetry capital, vibrant in the face of challenges—and with April showers and the cherry blossoms in bloom, inspiration seems to spring up everywhere.
Here are some ways to welcome poetry into your life and celebrate this month.
Create
Get creative with the Free Library’s virtual poetry challenge, Every Day is a Poem, April 1-31. Sign up online to discover new poetic forms, create poetry-inspired artwork and movement, and find poems in your everyday surroundings! Stay tuned for the Earth Day challenge, coming soon, and join the virtual Spring Reading Challenge today.
Listen
Call up the Healing Verse Philly Poetry Line, brought to us by Philadelphia Poet Laureate Trapeta B. Mason, to hear a new poem from a local poet each week.
Watch spoken word poems performed by Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate Cydney Brown.
Watch the youngest inaugural poet laureate in United States history, Amanda Gorman, reading her inspirational poem "The Hill We Climb" at this year’s Presidential Inauguration.
Commune
Join in the citywide celebration of One Book, One Philadelphia, with 8 weeks of readings, book discussions, and related events. And the books, of course! This year’s adult selection is The Tradition, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection by Jericho Brown. Companion titles include The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo for teens, and the children’s picture book Hey Black Child by Useni Eugene Perkins.
Get inspired virtually this April. If you have a favorite event or program, let us know in the comments below!
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